Dark Authenticity, Narcissism, Psychopathy, Machiavellianism
Researchers review how authenticity plays out through the lens of darkness.
Key points
- People high in dark triad traits also struggle with authenticity and morality.
- Research shows that, although there is overlap, authenticity varies with dark traits on several dimensions.
- To understand dark authenticity, it’s key to look at psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and narcissism separately.
- Learning to work with one’s own darkness is necessary for well-being and life satisfaction.
Authenticity isn’t all peaches and cream. It can get dark, say psychologist Laura Visu-Petra of Babes-Bolyai University in Romania and Ph.D. student Alexandra-Andreea Bulbuc in our second interview (link to the first at end of post).
In the following interview, we take a close look at the moral dimension of dark authenticity and get granular: How does authenticity vary according the the dark triad factors of narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy?
GHB: What is dark authenticity, and what moral conflict does it reveal?
LVP: The concept of dark authenticity brings to light a part of human experience typically…